


reel me in

by bananablnd (strawberryblnd)



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Fantasy, Fluff, Slow Burn, lots of subtle ocean puns, momo is a mermaid, nayeon is an asshole
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:19:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21689737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberryblnd/pseuds/bananablnd
Summary: starting her adult life in new york city was already hard enough for nayeon before she had a full grown mermaid living in her apartment’s only bathtub.
Relationships: Hirai Momo/Im Nayeon
Comments: 37
Kudos: 94





	1. coral

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posting the short bit i have so far to see if this is even something people would be interested in reading!! i know it’s a weird concept and very very different than the angst i usually write but i’m having fun with it so far so i’d be happy to finish it if there are people interested :) so leave a kudos/comment letting me know!! 
> 
> and sorry if there’s typos... i’m impatient and wanted to publish this asap

like most things, nayeon never liked the ocean. she hated that you never knew what creature could be lurking 10 feet away from you. and fish always freaked her out. so naturally, she picked up a couple shifts at an aquarium. 

and now she’s stuck cleaning sea otter tanks at 1 am on a saturday night. 

“damn” she curses as the brush she’s using falls to the ground, instantly breaking. she makes her way to the supply room next to the tank to get another. 

as she opens the door and flicks on the lights, she jumps at the presence of a woman on the floor. 

a woman with a tail. 

that looks absolutely terrified of her. 

her first assumption is that she’s an actress, someone for the kids to take pictures with. 

“hi” nayeon speaks out in an expectant tone, waiting for some form of explanation. this entire situation is chilling and she can’t exactly place why. 

the woman just stares at her. she’s absolutely stunning, for what it’s worth, and she has a shimmer on her cheeks and under her eyes that gets caught in the dingy fluorescent light. 

“listen... the aquarium closed hours ago. i don’t know if you passed out in here or whatever but you’re gonna have to get out.” nayeon pleads with her. 

still, nothing. the girl looks shell shocked. 

“and please, put a shirt on. god you’re lucky i don’t have a stick up my ass or i’d report you for like.. 5 different violations right now.”

that makes the woman’s mouth open. 

“please! whatever you do, do not report to anyone that i am here!”

nayeon feels the slightest pang of worry for the girl. did something happen to her? was she homelesss, using the aquarium as a resting place?

“ok, ok. chill. i won’t tell anyone. just get out of here. i have a shift to finish.”

the woman looks around for a second before pulling herself closer to nayeon. 

“can i trust you?” she breathes. 

nayeon slowly kneels to meet the girl’s eye and nods, she must be cracked out. this should be interesting. 

“i have been hiding from your kind ever since i got here. i have heard the stories of what happens when you capture one of us, but conditions in my home waters are worse. we are plagued with war and as princess of our sea, i am the most wanted captive.”

nayeon snorts and stands up.

“all right. where the fuck is jeongyeon? hiding behind the cabinets? recording?” she laughs. “ok good job! you got me!”

the woman blinks at her and nayeon can’t tell if it’s the sparkle under her eye or tears forming in them. 

“you said i could trust you. please. i need help.” she begs. 

nayeon puts her hands on her hips, releasing a deep sigh. she stares at the woman for at least half a minute. 

“stop fucking with me. i don’t have time for this shit.” is what she comes up with. because there’s simply absolutely irrefutably no way there’s a mermaid princess fleeing war on the floor of a supply room at the shitty new york city aquarium she works at. no fucking way. 

the girl hangs her head and her black hair falls over her tanned shoulders. 

“ah, i should have known. i should have listened to my father. to everyone i have ever known.” she curses to herself. 

nayeon, although reluctantly, finds herself pitying the girl. no matter how high this girl is, she obviously needs help. besides, playing along with this insanity seems a lot more appealing than scraping otter shit off of glass. 

“no... no i’m sorry.” nayeon almost laughs, but continues anyways. “you’re a mermaid princess?” she asks and can’t hold back her snicker this time. 

the girl is too far gone to even pick up on nayeon’s cynicism. 

“yes, i guess that is correct.” she deadpans back to nayeon and nayeon already can’t wait to tell jeongyeon all about this crackhead.

“well let’s get you back into the water!” nayeon jokes. 

“no!” the girl looks like she’s about to cry. 

“i cannot go back... they will hurt me” she pleads and for the first time nayeon is genuinely nervous. regardless of how strung out she is, this girl might be in actual danger, and while she’s kind of an asshole, nayeon would never leave someone like this alone. 

“ok listen, i’m definitely disappointed that i never even got a chance to get some of whatever you took, but it sounds like you need real help and you seem like a nice enough girl, so how about i call you a cab? i’ll pay for it. hell i’ll even ride with you in it to your place since i’m feeling nice. i want you to get home safe.”

the girl just stares at her. 

“my home has been torn to shreds by the ruthless dolphins of the kelp dynasty.” she explains. 

nayeon shakes her head in disbelief. “you must be fun even when you’re sober” she says mostly to herself. 

“alright come on ariel let’s get you back to the fish tank, eh?” she says as she reaches a hand out to help the girl up. 

the girl takes her hand but makes no effort to push herself off the floor and nayeon falls awkwardly onto her. 

“thanks for the help” she says monotonous, pushing herself off. 

“i am unable to stand upright like you.” the girl explains patiently. 

nayeon weighs her options. how much does she actually care about the well being of this girl? sure, nayeon wants her home safe, but she’s making it pretty fucking hard to help her. then again, the poor thing’s so high she can’t even get onto her feet. 

“you’re right. where are your pants? you have to take that thing off if you wanna get anywhere.” she says, gesturing to the large magenta tail. 

“i cannot take it off... it is a part of my body.” the girl deadpans. 

nayeon has officially had enough. she leans down, grabbing the girl’s hips to try and pull the tail off. 

whatever method was used to secure it is precise. it feels like the thing is super-glued to her skin. and the material is pretty intricate too. nayeon can feel every scale. it freaks her out so much she yanks her hands away. 

“you are so silly” the girl giggles a little. “imagine if i tried to take off your legs” she laughs to herself. 

nayeon feels a shiver run down her spine. this is starting to feel a little too real. is second hand high a thing? 

“are you..... are you actually a..” she stamers. 

“i have not told any lies.” the girl answers and even with the shock in her system, nayeon is finding herself increasingly fond of the awkward way the girl talks. 

maybe it’s because it’s late, maybe it’s because the girl is, objectively gorgeous and her chest is still very much uncovered, maybe it’s because she’s a little too bored, but something in nayeon tells her to go with this, at least for the night.

she still feels a bit like an idiot when she goes all the way to the medical emergency center to get a wheelchair and a blanket to get the girl home to her apartment. 

she finds out that night that  
1\. new york is not a wheel chair friendly place  
2\. the girl’s name is momo, lone princess of the coral dynasty. 

momo learns that her name is nayeon, lone disappointment of the im family. 

~~~~~~

by the time nayeon gets momo into the elevator and up to her apartment door, her blanket has long been lost. somewhere on the street or subway, neither of them were sure. 

nayeon’s never been more grateful of the fact that new york is her home; the only city on earth where a woman wheeling around a mermaid in a thrasher hoodie (it was the only shirt in the lost and found that fit momo) is one of the most ordinary things you’ll see on the subway. 

in fact, people were more annoyed about the space they were taking up on the crowded train. 

“my apartment is um.... it’s really fucking small.” nayeon starts. 

“apartment...” momo tests the word out and nayeon’s head reels a bit. 

“the place i live.... what we’re about to go into...” she offers. 

momo gives her an embarrassed nod. “right. i was aware of that.”

nayeon thinks she probably wasn’t. 

she clears her throat. “um... anyways. i don’t think that’s going to fit.” she says, looking at the wheelchair. 

“i cannot stand.” momo states. 

“thank you momo, i remember.”

the conversation ends with nayeon awkwardly hoisting momo over her shoulder, abandoning the wheelchair in the hall and carrying her into the apartment before immediately dumping her on the couch. god, mermaid tails are heavy. 

“how are you on water? what’s the rule with that?” nayeon asks and when she hears herself asking a girl what the rules of being a mermaid are she wants to pinch herself. this has to be a fever dream or an acid trip.

“i have lungs, like you. my tail does need to be in water every couple of hours or it will dry up and... consequences will begin to occur.” she pauses for a moment, visibly thinking to herself. 

nayeon tries to ignore the unsettling way momo mentions ‘consequences’. 

“this is the longest i have gone without being in water.” momo says nonchalantly. 

nayeon’s eyes widen. “um. we should probably get on that then, yeah?”

momo gives her an absentminded nod. 

nayeon quickly comes to the realization that the only large source of water in her apartment is the claw foot bathtub in her tiny bathroom. luckily, it’s pretty big. (‘a soaker’ her dad had commented with his hands on his hips his very first time visiting her. god she misses him.) she pulls herself out of her thoughts and gets to business. 

the trip to the bathtub is clunky and awkward and nayeon definitely hits momo’s head on the wall and momo definitely lies about it so that nayeon doesn’t feel bad. 

when she’s finally on the tiled floor with nayeon running the bath, nayeon has to tell her to take the hoodie off. getting it on was struggle enough, momo had never worn clothes in her life. 

momo stares at her upon the request. nayeon sighs. 

“just um..” she demonstrates crossing her arms at the hem and pulling up, but momo immediately gets lost and nayeon realizes how complicated taking a shirt off actually is. huh. 

momo tries to mimick nayeon’s motion and ends up with half the sweatshirt hanging over her head and the other half under her armpit. nayeon isn’t even sure how she managed to do it. 

nayeon moves towards her and grabs the stupid hoodie, gently grabbing momo’s arm to guide it back in. her skin is colder than any human nayeon has felt and a chill runs through her. when momo is back into the hoodie like before, nayeon guides her hands to the hem like she had done, slowly pulling off the hoodie with momo. 

nayeon feels her throat get tight at the situation. she can’t help but feel like she’s crossing some sort of line, even though she’s just trying to help. as soon as it’s mostly off (and momo’s damn chest is bare again) nayeon moves away, clearing her throat awkwardly with a deep blush on her face. 

momo doesn’t pick up on any of what just happened. 

“ah! we succeeded! thank you nayeon.” she says with a smile, leaning closer to the embarrassed girl. 

nayeon doesn’t look up. “don’t mention it” she says, turning her attention back to the tub. 

“oh, i apologize. i will not from now on.” momo responds. 

“what? no.” nayeon says, turning back to face the girl. “it’s an expression” she chuckles. “it means ‘you’re welcome’”

momo’s cheeks dust pink and nayeon realizes she’s embarrassed again, so she turns the topic back to the bath. 

“it’s pretty much full, you ready?” she asks. 

momo only nods. 

nayeon, once again, awkwardly hoists the girl up into her arms, their bodies pressed against each other in a way that makes nayeon want to drop her. 

she places momo in the water as gently as possible, although still splashing everywhere. 

momo sighs contentedly and shuts her eyes as she sinks low into the hot water and nayeon feels a spark of pride for helping the girl feel better. 

“thank you. this means more to me than you know.” she breathes. 

nayeon doesn’t respond at first, then smiles a little. 

“don’t mention it”

momo opens one eye, as if to check for the joking nature she suspected. upon seeing her smirk, she gives nayeon a big, toothy smile. 

nayeon feels something in her chest. fuck.


	2. seaweed

nayeon never really planned on seeing the good in anything. life had mostly settled on disappointing her and she realized at a young age that the lower her expectations, the harder it was for it to succeed at that.

it started when her mother left and came in handy when her father decided he couldn’t love her anymore.

it grew when jennie slept with a coworker and when new york gobbled up her dreams of becoming an actress, forcing her to get the best job she could find without her full degree and giving her nothing in return but filth and some public transportation.

and then something happened. something so utterly insane that as she blinks herself awake the morning after, she wills herself to dismiss it because there’s just no fucking way there’s actually a mermaid in her apartment.

of all the creatures nayeon has brought home out of nothing but sheer boredom, this one definitely takes the cake.

and yet, as she pulls herself out of her bed and pads to the bathroom, momo is there in the bathtub, looking at her expectantly with bright eyes.

“you slept.” she says it as if it’s something she’s only seen in movies or read about in books.

“yes..” nayeon answers, waiting for the point of the statement.

“i heard about that from my teachers. i guess i held doubt that it was something humans actually did. i mean, what a waste of time!” she laughs.

nayeon can only blink as momo keeps that stupid smile on her face. she doesn’t know much about this situation or how to navigate it, but she does know it’s way too damn early for this.

“aren’t you hungry?” she asks instead of trying to come up with a response to that.

momo looks for a second like she’s thinking to herself. as if she’s deciding whether she’s hungry or not and it nearly tickles nayeon and claws unwelcomely at the little bud of affection she’s starting to hold for the girl. one she’s definitely not ready to confront because it’s been hours and all momo has managed to do is be astoundingly strange.

“i do not assume you have anything in my usual diet.” momo finally responds.

nayeon smiles. she doesn’t know why but she smiles and instantly feels the responsibility to get something in front of momo that she’ll enjoy.

“i’ll find you something.” nayeon offers and momo just nods.

nayeon doesn’t know how to end the interaction so she finds herself turning away and walking out without addressing so many things she should. like asking momo what exactly her diet is or if she’s fine spending more time in a bathtub that’s surely smaller than any amount of water she’s ever been in.

but as she’s walking out, momo stops her.

“nayeon.” she voices and nayeon hears a little splash in the water accompany it.

she turns back around to find momo leaning over the edge, getting as close to where nayeon stands as she can.

“i want to eat what you eat.” she says and nayeon can only nod.

it’s such a simple request but it makes nayeon feel trusted. it makes her feel like momo wants to enter her world and while that should scare nayeon, who just met- no, _discovered_ her and doesn’t usually allow herself to feel responsible for anything, it doesn’t frighten her at all. it settles its way into her day and she thinks maybe it will manage to settle its way into her whole life if she lets it.

nayeon feels what seems awfully close to hope and she doesn’t immediately swat it away like a gnat.

she holds onto it for a reason she can’t pinpoint as she slips on her shoes and sets out the door, tripping over a wheelchair waiting on the other side.

goddammit momo.

__~~~~~_ _

momo is giving her an incredulous look as she tentatively holds up the bag. she can feel the huge, excited smile on her face, wondering why momo is still looking at her like she’s holding up a sign that says “babies are evil”.

nayeon shakes the bag, hoping to show her eagerness.

“they’re seaweed chips!” she exclaims.

momo still says nothing.

“seaweed.... chips.” she finally repeats.

nayeon only nods, setting them on the table that momo is as close to sitting at as her tail will allow.

“like um... seaweed but. dried. i guess it sounds stupid now th-“

momo’s giggle stops her. nayeon gives a defeated sigh despite the sound filling her with something more positive.

“i just thought it would be funny cause like. seaweed from the sea where your from but chips to make it human? i don’t know i guess i j-“ nayeon has never been a rambler and yet here she is, infinitely grateful that momo interrupts her.

“well then let me try it.” momo says with a smile that takes all the tension from nayeon’s body and replaces it with something she doesn’t want to name.

“right.” nayeon says, getting scissors to cut open the bag.

she looks at momo apprehensively as she takes a bite gingerly.

a cough.

then a gag.

then a smile like neither just happened. like momo just ate the best thing she’s ever tasted.

nayeon can only laugh rather than feel disappointment. because it’s funny, honestly.

that she bought seaweed chips for a mermaid that is now gagging over them.

momo laughs along like she gets why nayeon has let chuckles overtake her body.

“they’re that bad, huh?” nayeon asks.

momo’s eyes widen.

“no! no i- i do love them, really.” she tries, but all nayeon has to do is raise an eyebrow and momo’s facade crumbles, a guilty smile gracing her full lips.

“i bet nothing beats the real thing” nayeon jokes.

“yes! you get it!” momo says gratefully.

of course she actually ate seaweed. nayeon finds herself biting back laughter again. she opts to just go along with it when she sees how understood momo looks.

“yeah, i get it”

nayeon grabs her phone to order pizza. extra anchovies. wait... is that cannibalism?

“do you eat fish?” nayeon asks absentmindedly. as if momo is her vegetarian friend; not half fish herself.

“do you??” momo counters.

nayeon stares at her, eyes wide.

“relax, i am only kidding with you” momo explains, a small, mischievous smile on her face. “it’s most of my diet, actually.”

nayeon doesn’t have time to ponder the morals of the fact that mermaids eat fish because momo actually just pulled a fast one on her. even if she did it with the grace of that pink-haired alien from teen titans, it still impresses nayeon in a way that pulls her lips into a smile so big her cheeks hurt.

extra anchovies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you sosososo much for all your kind comments on the first chapter! 
> 
> i’m sorry that this update is so short and took so long to get up,, i've just been very busy! hopefully i will be able to update more frequently and with longer chapters. thanks for your patience. hope you enjoyed this little drabble :)


	3. pizza

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fuck it. thrasher mermaid in a wheelchair.

nayeon uses her laptop to order the pizza, ignoring momo’s puzzled eyes watching her use the device.

it doesn’t take long for a knock at her apartment door to echo through the apartment.

nayeon not being used to hiding a full on mermaid in her home works against her when she flings the door open excitedly, momo in clear view from where the teenage girl stands, holding a pizza box.

her brown eyes widen and she smiles, dimples on display.

“holy shit! thrasher mermaid!” she exclaims.

nayeon doesn’t understand the strange nickname, but is too flustered to ponder why some random pizza delivery girl would call momo by that title. instead, she just steps outside into the hall, closing the door behind her to face the teen.

“listen,” she looks at the girl’s name tag “chaeyoung, that’s my friend in a costume, so don’t get any weird ideas or go around telling people th-”

she’s cut off by an easy laugh from the girl. _rude_.

“will you chill? i’m not gonna like, call animal control on your ass or anything.” chaeyoung reassures, although she looks like she’s considering something.

“but um… could i get a picture with her?” she asks finally.

nayeon looks up from signing the receipt. “what?”

“a picture. just one and then i’ll go.. then you don’t have to tip me!”

nayeon just scoffs and hands the girl five dollars. “get out of here.”

~~~~~

nayeon waits apprehensively as momo takes her first bite of the pizza, hoping for better results than what the seaweed chips provided.

momo’s eyebrows raise as she chews and nayeon is about to start defending herself again when momo makes a quiet, satisfied noise.

“like it?”

momo only nods, a happy smile spreading across her cheeks.

“i ordered it with extra seaweed chips.”

this makes momo jerk the piece away from her mouth and inspect it, only to look up at nayeon with narrowed eyes.

“do humans always enjoy teasing this much?” she asks it as more of a genuine question than a complaint.

“do mermaids always fall for it so easily?” nayeon counters back.

momo’s defined cheeks turn pink as she looks down and takes another bite of pizza.

“i am not falling for it.” momo answers, eyes still on the floor and mouth full in a way that makes her cheeks puffed up. _cute_ , but nayeon ignores that thought, labeling it as intrusive.

“no?” she asks.

“no.”

nayeon’s not exactly sure what to make of momo’s reaction. she’s thankful for the interruption of a ringtone.

momo jumps in her seat, a hand coming to rest over her chest and her eyes wide.  
nayeon silences her phone before looking at momo.

“it’s okay. it’s just my phone.” nayeon explains, hoping to calm the startled girl.

“phone?” momo asks.

nayeon is reminded once again that momo knows virtually nothing about her world.

“yeah,” she holds up her iphone. “when people wanna tell me something, but they’re far away, they can talk to me through it.”

momo nods slowly, working to understand.

“we just used messenger dolphins.” she explains absentmindedly, looking back down at her slice of pizza.

nayeon blinks at her again. she’s not sure this will ever get less bizarre. she fights the urge to laugh as she opens her phone to call jeongyeon back.

“nayeon!” the girl on the phone sounds overwhelmed. “where the hell are you?” nayeon looks at the clock. it’s 20 minutes after her shift was supposed to start.

“shit.” she curses. “jeong i am so, so sorry. i’m on my way.”

“does this have something to do with that cracked out aquarium actress you took home last night? nayeon i swear to god if you don’t stop bringin-“

“what?” nayeon feels panic settle itself into her stomach. “how do you know about that?”

“have you not opened twitter? or instagram? or reddit? dude you’re a meme. that’s what you get for always bringing the weirdest girls home.” jeongyeon explains, obviously unbothered by the facts that:

one, her supposed best friend brought what she had presumed to be a drug addict in a mermaid costume home. and two, that it is now on the front page of reddit.

nayeon sighs into the palm that comes up to rub her face.

regardless of what website she's currently the main talk of, she isn’t used to being late to work. she prides herself on her work ethic, so knowing that (for the first time since she had gotten the job) she's late to her shift at the aquarium makes her cheeks hot with anger at herself.

she looks at momo, who sits watching her happily, chewing on her second slice of pizza. she wants so badly to be able to blame the mermaid for this.

she hangs up on jeongyeon, who was describing one of the particularly funny memes that showcased her and momo.

“i’m late for work. i have to run.” she explains as she grabs her uniform that’s hanging on her ironing board. momo’s eyes widen slightly and nayeon realizes she’s basically dependent on nayeon for everything at the moment. nayeon makes quick work of scooping momo up and putting her on the couch.

“will you be fine here for a while?” she asks, hoping she won’t have to transport momo to the bathtub.

momo nods silently.

“okay, good. you can watch tv while i’m gone.” she grabs the remote and switches it on, showing the controls to momo, who’s obviously trying to hide her utter confusion under curt nods and hums.

“and if you get tired of whatever you’re watching, press this.”

momo just keeps nodding along.

“i will be okay, nayeon. this tv device seems entertaining.” she smiles genuinely up at her and nayeon curses the little spike in her heartbeat it causes.

~~~~~

nayeon is used to hating the aquarium. she took a job there because all her other applications had fallen through, and other than the entertainment of watching jeongyeon try to get a seal to take fish from her hand without biting her, it offers little entertainment.

it’s nice to see the happy families, and nayeon loves making the children smile by telling them stupid fish jokes or showing them the silliest looking animals, but an overwhelming amount of nayeon’s job is cleaning fish poop off of glass and dealing with advances from her loser male coworkers (although she commends the ones that are brave enough to do it while wearing party city pirate costumes).

today, however, as she walks into the aquarium with momo on her mind, the place is unusually interesting.

she finds herself looking at each individual fish, wondering if momo could tell her facts about it.

she finds herself paying attention to the repeating recording about climates of the ocean that she’s so used to ignoring, wondering which one momo is most familiar with.

she finds herself wanting to know more about the history of supposed mermaid encounters, told in plaques along the wall of one of the hallways. she reads the stories carefully, with more credibility than she had ever given them, wondering if momo has her own stories about humans.

jeongyeon interrupts her as she’s reading of a sailor who had reported falling in love with a mermaid in his journal.

“you’ve got a thing for mermaids recently, huh?” she asks with a teasing tone.

nayeon jumps slightly, whipping around to meet her coworker.

“wh- no. i was just-“ nayeon begins, but gets cut off by a loud laugh from jeongyeon.

“chill. god, you’re not one to ramble. what’s up with you?” she asks more seriously.

“nothing.” nayeon dismisses with a wave of her hand.

“damn. a girl becomes a meme once and suddenly she’s too cool to talk to her best friend.”

“it’s not that... and calling you my best friend is a stretch” nayeon adds despite knowing that the title is mostly true. not because they’re particularly close, but because neither of them have anyone else to talk to.

jeongyeon raises an incredulous eyebrow at her.

“i just got bored. that’s why i’m reading these. don’t read into it for once, sherlock.” nayeon hopes it’s enough to sate jeongyeon’s curiosity.

jeongyeon lets out a small laugh. “sherlock. that’s a new one.” she compliments as she walks away. nayeon instantly feels relief at being left alone.

the rest of the day passes by peacefully. at one point in the back room, jeongyeon is doubled over, holding up an image of nayeon and momo on the subway the night before, edited with text in bold white letters that reads: “fuck it. thrasher mermaid in a wheelchair.”

nayeon doesn’t get it. doesn’t see the humor in it. it does, however, help her understand why that pizza delivery girl called momo by the name and asked for a picture with her.

to her surprise and reprieve, jeongyeon doesn’t actually ask any questions about the mysterious mermaid girl, only teases her relentlessly.

she’ll take that over explaining that the correct way to refer to the ‘thrasher mermaid’ is actually ‘princess momo of the coral dynasty’.

she’ll take basically anything over that.

~~~~~

nayeon opens her door to hear spanish coming from her tv speakers. she smiles to herself, imagining momo probably got stuck on some novella and forgot how to switch channels.

as she makes her way to the couch, her stomach drops at what she finds.

momo is pale, paler than her complexion already was. she has a sheet of sweat covering her face and dampening the old rangers t-shirt nayeon had put on her. her eyes are barely open but nayeon could tell they’re watching her as she comes closer.

“momo?” nayeon asks worriedly, kneeling down to inspect her.

momo doesn’t speak, only looks on as nayeon holds two fingers to her wrist. nayeon sighs in relief as she feels a surprisingly steady pulse. she racks her brain for a solution, judgment clouded by her overwhelming fear.

she remembers their conversation from yesterday, momo claiming she can’t go more than a couple hours out of water and her vague mention of ‘consequences’. she looks at her phone. it’s been over 9 hours since she took momo out of the bath this morning.

she brings her arm under the mermaid’s back, bringing her up with more strength than the times she’d lifted her before.

carrying momo to the bathtub this time is easy.

waiting for it to fill is not.

momo just watches through heavily lidded eyes. she almost looks patient and nayeon wonders if she’s always as calm and quiet as she has been the last 24 hours.

“god, momo i’m so sorry. you trusted me to take care of you and look what i’ve done.”

momo doesn’t answer, nayeon doesn’t know if she even can.

she can’t help herself from moving closer, holding momo’s limp hand in hers.

“please, please, please be okay.” she almost whispers. she stops her forehead from falling to touch momo’s. she knows that even in times like this, the boundaries between a mermaid and the girl that’s letting her live in her bathtub are probably important to maintain. (although almost killing the poor thing probably crosses those boundaries already.)

she looks back at the bathtub, thankful that it’s finally full enough for momo.

she makes quick work of getting the shirt off of the other girl. this time, it doesn’t fluster her or turn her cheeks pink. she removes it quickly and focuses on getting momo into the bath.

upon hitting the water, momo instantly starts to look a bit better. some color returns to her face and she closes her eyes peacefully, no longer fighting to keep them open.

nayeon just sits with her, ignoring the grumble of her empty stomach and ache in her back. the only sound that filters through the air is the spanish from her tv. its presence doesn’t make her smile anymore, this time she imagines that momo had been in the middle of flipping through channels when she became too weak to move. nayeon feels a sharp jolt of guilt.

it must be an hour before momo finally opens her eyes and blinks at nayeon.

“how you doin?” she greets, raising her eyebrows and nodding her chin up. the informal diction sounds awkward in her mouth, and the playful smirk on her lips seeps into the words.

nayeon chokes. then recovers and shakes her head disbelieving.

“i left you with every channel in america and you chose to watch friends?” she asks, although it’s probably not fair to judge the taste of someone who may as well have crash landed here in a ufo.

momo shrugs.

“i enjoyed it. and it taught me a lot about your world.” she reasons, “like when you see a pretty girl, you do that.”

nayeon doesn’t welcome the blush that she knows has settled on her face. she just looks at her, rendered silent. (for the first time in her life, jeongyeon would probably claim if she were here.)

“god, momo. i thought you were gonna...” nayeon stops when she sees momo looking at her worriedly. “forget it. i’m glad you’re okay.”

“does it matter to you that i am?” momo asks tentatively. it’s a strange question, and much more direct than anything momo has previously posed.

“well a dead mermaid is probably a lot harder to take care of than a healthy one.” nayeon reasons.

momo stares at her for a second, before visibly noticing the small smirk on nayeon’s lips. then, she makes that face that has become common whenever she realizes nayeon is messing with her. squinted eyes and a smile that she tries to hold back.

“you said you were sorry.” momo starts seriously.

nayeon nods quickly, ignoring the text she gets from jeongyeon; a link to a buzzfeed article with the headline ‘a mermaid in a thrasher hoodie rode the subway and now we have so many questions’.

“i just wanted to say that you do not have to be. however, if you would like to make it up to me, i have an idea how.” she adds. 

nayeon looks at momo, silently urging her on, the increasing boldness of the girl surprising her. 

“more pizza.”


End file.
